You didn’t come and see my daughter get married
by Jayne Leigh
Summary: Set during the episode 'Transition' Bartlet and Sam have a conversation about everything Sam missed after he left and about the future. Please R


**Okay, it's always bugged me that Sam wasn't at Leo's funeral so I wrote this to try and fill in some gapes. It was meant to be a standalone but got talking about it and thought it might be a cool idea to have more chapters with other characters talking before the Bartlet ****Administration**** ends. So let me know what you think!!! Also, hopefully have more updates for you soon. The next chapters for both 'I'm Fine' and 'Alternative Life' are almost finished! Please review! **

**Enjoy!!! **

**You didn't come and see my daughter get married**

"You didn't come to my daughter's wedding."

Sam spun around quickly. "Mr. President."

Jed smiled softly and stepped fully into what was now Charlie's office. "You're looking well, Sam."

"It's the sun, I think," Sam replied. "Actually, being able to sleep for more than Five hours a night makes a difference."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to that," Jed chuckled slightly "But back to the wedding…You didn'_t_ come and see my daughter get married."

"I'm sorry, Sir, I was working on an important case at work and I couldn't get away." Sam ran a hand over the back of his neck nervously. "Did Ellie get my card?"

"Yes, she did and it was a very nice card with a lovely message." Jed sat down on the chair in front of the desk and gestured for Sam to take a seat too. "One would think you write for a living."

Sam hesitated for a moment before sitting down behind the desk. He couldn't help but think back four years to when he played the President at chess in this very office.

"Well, you missed one hell of a wedding," Jed said lightly. "Actually, I almost missed one hell of a wedding, but that's another story for next time. It would have been good to see you there."

"Yes, Sir…"

"It's been a long time since we all started out in New Hampshire," Jed continued. "Even Josh and Leo took time out of their busy campaign to stop by."

"Ah, well that's the real reason, Sir," Sam replied. He knew the President wasn't really offended that he hadn't turned up to the wedding and that he was just messing with him.

"Josh and Leo?"

"I've successfully avoided Josh Lyman for a year…I had a good job that I liked and well, Josh has a way of convincing me that I'd rather be travelling around the Country on some campaign bus with him."

"Had a job?" Jed questioned the past tense.

"Josh eventually caught up with me," he sighed.

Jed laughed slightly and shook his head. "You'll be joining the Santos Administration?"

"It seems that way, Sir. My last attempt to escape surprisingly failed."

"What was it?"

"An ultimatum…I'd stay if he took a vacation," Sam told him. "I never thought he'd actually agree."

"Joshua Lyman is taking a vacation?"

"And he's taken Donna with him."

Jed stared at him for a moment. "Donna Moss?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Well, isn't that an interesting turn of events."

Jed had always been curious of Josh's relationship with his assistant from the very moment she turned up on the campaign. Back then, he didn't know his staff and all he saw was some young blonde girl that followed Josh around. He didn't know if Josh would be strong enough to resist her, but then his father died and Jed started to really watch the two of them. He saw Donna look after Josh without him really knowing what she was doing. He watched Josh explaining laws and solutions to her with patience that he never thought Josh Lyman was capable off. He saw her refusing to bring him coffee and him glaring disapprovingly at any male attention she received. He forgot all his previous concerns about the couple and saw their relationship as no more than a brother and sister type one; similar to the one Josh has with Zoey.

Except one year into their Administration, the unthinkable happened and Josh nearly died. He saw Donna's heart breaking that night at the hospital. From then on, Jed noticed small things that made him think they were more than boss and assistant. She was the one that noticed he was falling apart. He was the one that trusted her with more than any other senior staff trusted their assistants. She was the only one that could keep up with him. He wrote a memo about her old teacher. She stuck by and defended him when he messed up with Carrick. He walked away from the White House and flew across the world to hold her hand when she was hurt.

Jed used to love watching them. Hearing their banter, but after the explosion in Gaza everything started to fall apart. He stopped watching them. He stopped talking to them. Not just Josh and Donna but Leo, C.J and Toby too. That's when his staff started to fall apart.

"I'm glad," Jed said quietly. "I hope they both find what they're looking for."

"They already have…" Sam said softly. "They just need to work out how to handle it."

Jed laughed slightly. "Very poetic…Once a writer, always a writer."

Sam smiled widely and they both fell silent, deep in thought.

"Do you miss it?" Jed asked quietly, after a few seconds of silently watching Sam staring at his old desk.

Sam looked up at him, slowly. "No, not really… Sometimes …when I saw things happening on CNN, I was glad I was in Los Angeles and not here, in this office."

Jed nodded understandably.

"But there were also days when I would have given anything to be right here fighting with you all." Sam added. "I just, I guess I needed a break."

"I know that feeling," Jed smiled. "This has been one tough job."

"If you would have known everything that was going to happen eight years ago…would you still have run?" Sam questioned.

Jed thought for a moment before answering. "We've had some bad times, some terrible times, but we've also done a lot of good…" Jed said slowly, trying to find the right words to express what he was trying to say. "I would have liked to have done some things differently…"

"Me too," Sam nodded a little. "You know, I called Josh when things went wrong with Carrick…I told him to roll with the punches…Except I didn't call him… I spoke Donna."

Jed stayed silent, not sure what Sam was trying to say.

"I called his office knowing he wouldn't be there, I figured it was too early for anyone to be there and I could leave a message, but Donna picked up and I ended up coming out with something as bad as 'roll with the punches'… That's all I could think of."

"You didn't want to talk to Josh?" Jed asked gently and Sam just looked down at his desk. "Why?"

"Because…" Sam started but then stopped and sighed. He looked up at Jed before continuing. "Because I didn't call when Zoey was abducted."

"What?" Jed said in surprise at the answer.

"I sat at home and watched the news all day and all night but I didn't call," Sam told him. "I didn't call Josh or C.J or Toby…I just…"

"Sam…" Jed tried to cut in.

"I left and I felt like I didn't belong here anymore…I didn't have the right to call the Deputy Chief of Staff or the Press Secretary to ask for an update," he stated. "Then I felt stupid… These were my friends… I held Josh's hand while he almost bled to death…I helped put turkey's into C.J's offices…I've written amazing speeches with Toby…They were my friends, I forgot that for a while."

"So, you didn't speak to Josh because you felt guilty about not calling about Zoey?" Jed asked, trying to get his head around what Sam was talking about.

"I should have called, Sir and I'm sorry for not doing that."

"Sam, you don't need to apologize," Jed tried to assure him. "You were missed when you left and we understood you needed to move on, but you were always welcome to come back whenever you were ready too."

Sam thought for a few seconds before answering. "I wasn't ready…not until now…I had no passion…I couldn't work here without it."

Jed smiled. "This administration is going to do great things with you and Josh running the show."

"That's a scary thought," Sam stated.

"You'll be fine," Jed assured him.

"We'll have no one looking out for us…No C.J to smack us upside the head when we've done or said something stupid…No advice from Leo…No more of your stories…" His voice trailed off at the mention of Leo.

"Sam?"

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to get his thoughts straight. "I didn't call about Zoey because I wasn't sure where I fitted in anymore…I didn't call Josh about Carrick because I felt guilty…I didn't call about Gaza because I couldn't handle it if Josh lost another person he loved, and I couldn't handle seeing one of my best friends fighting for their life again…I didn't call when C.J was made Chief of Staff because I thought you'd made a mistake and I didn't call when Toby was fired because I couldn't understand why he did what he did…but Leo…I should have been here…At his funeral, I should have been here to say goodbye."

Jed remained silent. He had been curious as to why Sam wasn't there.

"If it wasn't for Leo… If it wasn't for Leo, then Josh wouldn't have left Hoynes and he wouldn't have convinced me to leave Gage Whitney…" Sam continued. "He changed my life for the better and I learned so much from working with him…I should have come to say goodbye…I should have been here…I owed him that."

"Then why didn't you?" Jed questioned.

Sam shrugged a little and looked away. "I didn't… I didn't know how to say goodbye…I've never lost anyone who I was close to before, except maybe my Grandparents but I was only a kid then…I can't really even remember it now…I've been pretty lucky."

Sam glanced around his old office once more, memories coming flooding back to him. He had walked away from all of this and all of his friends…the people that he thought of as family, but he always knew that some day he would come back. Now it was too late because they had lost Leo for good.

"I don't know how Josh does it," he whispered, almost to himself. "His mom is the only family he has left… He somehow managed to get through being shot and almost dying…he's spent seven years working in the White House, living through amazing moments to terrible moments…He saw Donna suffering while she was on the other side of the world… He went through all of that and more, yet he somehow managed to still have hope and faith in this country…He still managed to find the right man who deserves to follow in your footsteps…I don't know where he gets the strength to do that."

Jed opened his mouth, hoping to lighten the mood with some kind of witty comment about Josh being too stubborn to just quit, but instead he found himself saying something else.

"There's something special about Josh Lyman and after eight years of knowing him, I'm still not sure what it is."

Before Sam could say anymore, there was a knock on the door and they both turned to see Curtis standing there.

"I'm sorry; Mr. President but you have a meeting."

"Thank you, Curtis, I'll be right there," Jed replied and slowly stood up as Curtis backed out of the room. "That's the new Charlie."

Sam smiled as he got to his feet as well. "I better let you get back to work, Sir…Thank you for taking the time to talk to me."

"Anytime, Sam…anytime at all," Jed replied holding out his hand. "It really is good to see you."

"You too, Sir," Sam took his hand.

Jed smiled at him before turning towards the door.

"Mr. President?"

"Yeah?" He looked back at Sam.

"I haven't forgotten what you said that night we played chess," Sam told him. "One day, I want to run for President…That's why I came back, because there is still so much more I need to learn."

"And you think this is the right time and place?" Jed asked, but he already knew the answer.

"Yes, Sir…like you said, there's something special about Josh Lyman and I intend to spend at least four years trying to learn what it is."

"I'll tell you what I told Josh…Leo and I are the past…you two are the future," Jed said softly. "And you'll be just fine."

"Thank you, Mr. President," Sam said quietly, letting the words he just said sink in.

Jed nodded slightly to him before silently leaving Sam alone in the office he started out in.

**The End.**

**What did you think? Would you be interested in reading more chapter like this?? **


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